This economy profile for Doing Business 2015 presents the 11 Doing Business indicators for Germany. To allow for useful comparison, the profile also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator.
... See More + Doing Business 2015 is the 12th edition in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business; for 2015 Germany ranks 14. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and over time. Doing Business measures regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of a business known as indicators. Ten of these areas are included in this year's ranking on the ease of doing business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures labor market regulation, which is not included in this year's ranking. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2014 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period from January to December 2013).
See Less -

Germany's contributions to the World Bank Group (WBG) totaled United States (U.S.) 8,339.2 million dollars for fiscal years 2009-14. In the first six months of fiscal year 2014, Germany contributed U.S. 708.3 million dollars to the International Development Association (IDA), U.S. 150.6 million dollars to International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and IDA trust funds (TFs), and U.S. 305.9 million dollars to Financial Intermediary Funds (FIFs).
... See More + The number of active TFs at end of FY14 was 63, including 48 IBRD and IDA TFs, 12 FIFs, and 3 International Finance Corporation (IFC) TF. Germany ranked third among development partners in terms of contributions to WBG TFs over fiscal years 2009-14. German contributions were received mainly from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), at 73 percent, and from Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW), at 21 percent. This portfolio at a glance brief contains the following headings: WBG TFs receiving cash contributions; top WBG TF agreements (first two quarters of FY14); IBRD and IDA TF disbursements; and WBG TF portfolio comparisons.
See Less -

This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Germany. In a series of annual reports, Doing Business assesses regulations affecting domestic firms in 189 economies and ranks the economies in 10 areas of business regulation, such as starting a business, resolving insolvency and trading across borders.
... See More + This year's report data cover regulations measured from June 2012 through May 2013. The report is the 11th edition of the Doing Business series.
See Less -

This regional profile presents the Doing Business indicators for economies in European Union (EU). It also shows the regional average, the best performance globally for each indicator and data for the following comparator regions: East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, and OECD High Income.
... See More + The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2013, except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January to December 2012. Regional Doing Business reports capture differences in business regulations and their enforcement across countries in a single region. They provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. The report sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and employing workers. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. The data set covers 47 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, 33 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 25 in East Asia and the Pacific, 25 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 20 in the Middle East and North Africa and 8 in South Asia, as well as 31 OECD high-income economies. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why.
See Less -

This paper investigates the adverse effects of oil price volatility on economic activity and the extent to which countries can hedge against such effects by using renewable energy.
... See More + By considering the Realized Volatility of oil prices, rather than following the standard approach of considering oil price shocks in levels, the effects of factor price uncertainty on economic activity are analyzed. Sample countries represent developed and developing, oil importing and exporting and service/industry-based economies (United States, Japan, Germany, South Korea, India, and Malaysia) and thus complement the standard literature's analysis of Western OECD countries. In a vector auto-regressive setting, Granger causality tests, impulse response functions, and variance decompositions show that oil price volatility has more-adverse effects in all sample countries than oil price shocks alone can explain. The paper finds that the sensitivity to oil price volatility varies widely across countries and discusses various factors which may determine the level of sensitivity (such as sectoral composition and the energy mix). This implies that the standard approach of solely considering net oil importer-exporter status is not sufficient. Simulations of volatility shocks in hypothetical energy mixes (with increased renewable shares) illustrate the potential economic benefits resulting from efforts to disconnect the macroeconomy from volatile commodity markets. It is concluded that expanding renewable energy can in principle reduce an economy's vulnerability to oil price volatility, but a country-specific analysis would be necessary to identify concrete policy measures. Overall, the paper provides an additional rationale for reducing exposure and vulnerability to oil price volatility for the sake of economic growth.
See Less -

This paper analyzes annual accounting data for a sample of 5,000 publicly traded manufacturing firms from Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
... See More + The analysis uses data from 1997 to 2011 and finds an increasing trend of excess savings (defined as the difference between gross saving and capital formation) and a gradual decline of gross capital formation. This trend is accompanied by a steady deleveraging process and a decrease in the share of operating assets in total assets. This process is more acute among the more credit constrained, the more volatile, and the less dynamic firms.
See Less -

This report gives 14 indicators that describe a country's macro fiscal environment to identify constraints or opportunities for health systems financing.
... See More + A country with a 10 percent unemployment rate that has fallen from 15 percent may be in better shape than one with an 8 percent unemployment rate that has risen from 4 percent. It is also important to benchmark to group averages of countries in the same World Bank (WB) region and income group- high income country (HIC), upper middle income country (MIC), lower MIC, or low income country (LIC).
See Less -

This tenth edition of Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations.
... See More + It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting eleven areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and employing workers. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 185 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Germany. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2012 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January - December 2011).
See Less -

Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations.
... See More + It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. In a series of annual reports Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Germany. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2011 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January- December 2010). The data not only highlight the extent of obstacles to doing business; they also help identify the source of those obstacles, supporting policy makers in designing regulatory reform.
See Less -

This paper develops an empirical measure of growth poles and uses it to examine the phenomenon of multipolarity. The authors formally define several alternative measures, provide theoretical justifications for these measures, and compute polarity values for nation states in the global economy.
... See More + The calculations suggest that China, Western Europe, and the United States have been important growth poles over the broad course of world history, and in modern economic history the United States, Japan, Germany, and China have had prominent periods of growth polarity. The paper goes on to analyze the economic and institutional determinants, both at the proximate and fundamental level, that underlie this measure of polarity, as well as compute measures of dispersion in growth polarity shares for the major growth poles.
See Less -

The re-education of the German people overseen by the victorious allied powers, the inclusion of the causes and consequences of totalitarianism in school curricula and a comprehensive policy of ensuring that the Nazi period remained firmly in the German collective memory were the elements that formed the basis of a viable liberal-democratic post-war consensus in West Germany.
... See More + Democratic opinions and values progressively took the place of the racist, chauvinistic ideology of the National Socialists, which had proclaimed the superiority of the 'master race' and ultimately led to the outbreak of the Second World War. The most extensive re-education measures were implemented under the American occupation. The Office of Military Government for Germany US (OMGUS) under the US zone's Military Governor General Lucius D. Clay allocated $1.03 million to the education program in the period to 1948, while the amount increased to $48 million between 1949 and 1952 under the Office of the High Commissioner US, Germany (HICOG). In addition, by 1949 rehabilitation programs were already being undertaken in West Germany by more than 50 private American organizations, including the American Council on Education, the labor unions AFL and CIO, the League of Women Voters, and the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations (Rupieper 1996: 200).
See Less -

Doing business 2011: making a difference for entrepreneurs is the eighth in a series of annual reports investigating regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.
... See More + Doing business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. A set of regulations affecting nine stages of a business's life are measured: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business. Data in doing business 2011 are current as of June 1, 2010. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where, and why. The paper includes the following headings: overview, five-year measure of cumulative change, starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business.
See Less -

This country level trade brief summarizes insights from the world trade indicators database as well as analyzes national impacts and responses to the food crisis and global recession.
... See More + The trade at a glance tables for Germany provide a snapshot of key aspects of trade policy and performance.
See Less -

Doing Business 2010 is the seventh in a series of annual reports investigating regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.
... See More + Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. This paper presents the summary Doing Business indicators for Germany. The paper includes the following headings: introduction and aggregate rankings, starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, closing a business, and Doing Business 2010 reform.
See Less -

This country level trade brief summarizes insights from the world trade indicators database as well as analyzes national impacts and responses to the food crisis and global recession.
... See More + The trade at a glance tables for Germany provide a snapshot of key aspects of trade policy and performance.
See Less -

Doing Business 2009 is the sixth in a series of annual reports investigating regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.
... See More + Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 181 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. This paper presents the summary Doing Business indicators for Germany. The paper includes the following headings: introduction, starting a business, dealing with licenses, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business.
See Less -

This report presents the summary Doing Business indicators for Germany along with the comparator economies selected. The data used for this country profile come from the Doing Business database and are summarized in graphs and tables.
... See More + This report allows a comparison of the economies not only with one another but also with the best practice economy for each indicator. The best-practice economies are identified by their position in each indicator as well as their overall ranking and by their capacity to provide good examples of business regulation to other economies. These best-practice economies do not necessarily rank number 1 in the topic or indicator, but they are in the top 5. Doing Business 2008 is the fifth in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 178 economies and over time.
See Less -

Emerging literature has demonstrated some unique characteristics of trade in differentiated products. This paper contributes to the literature by postulating that differentiated products may be subject to greater tariff evasion due to the difficulties associated with assessing their quality and price.
... See More + Using product-level data on trade between Germany and 10 Eastern European countries during 1992-2003, the authors find empirical support for this hypothesis. They show that the trade gap, defined as the discrepancy between the value of exports reported by Germany and the value of imports from Germany reported by the importing country, is positively related to the level of tariff in 8 out of 10 countries. Further, the authors show that the responsiveness of the trade gap to the tariff level is greater for differentiated products than for homogeneous goods. A one-percentage-point increase in the tariff rate is associated with a 0.6 percent increase in the trade gap in the case of homogeneous products and a 2.1 percent increase in the case of differentiated products. Finally, the data indicate that greater tariff evasion observed for differentiated products tends to take place through misrepresentation of the import prices.
See Less -

This is the fifth quarterly newsletter designed to keep businesswomen in touch with key events, relevant research, and each other. This issue highlights e news of IFC and World Bank Group activities (including the launch of the GEM/Kauffman Foundation research study on women's access to finance), news reports from other sources (including the Second Economic Forum of the Arab Businesswomen Council), upcoming events around the globe (including the 5th Pan Afro Arab Congress of Business and Professional Women), and links to useful web sites (including Online Gender Equality Courses from the International Labour Organization).
... See More + The regular spotlight this issue falls on Dr. Sahar El Sallab, Vice Chairperson and Managing Director of Commercial International Bank (CIB) in Egypt. Dr. El-Sallab is a pioneer and key player in reaching out to women clients - an untapped customer segment - in financial services.
See Less -